What to Expect

The first thing I have to say is that it is best that you come over here with an open mind and to remember that this is England and while they may not have homes like we do, doesn't mean it is wrong as people live differently all over the world from Americans. Believe me I have had to tell myself this about a lot of things. You are going against thousands of years of tradition. If you can embrace that, I think that you will enjoy your tour here and be able to find a suitable home. Another thing you need to remember is when America was growing her suburbs with her 1950's homes; England was rebuilding itself after WWII. This set England behind the USA about 20 years because it was more important to provide homes for people then with the conveniences.

AmericanTown HouseApartment with 2 or 3 floorsHouse (not connected to another house)Owner has absolute ownership of propertyFoyerSingle Story HouseApartmentDuplexConverted stable to houseRentPer calendar month

Houses are generally smaller in England than in the States so you may need to compromise a bit on size. I suggest packing for a home about 1200 square feet or smaller for one military member family or double that for dual military. This will make more homes suitable and make your choices less restricted. They are small but comfortable. However, a lot Americans end up live in a free standing or detached house. If you are looking to live near the town center, you will need to expect to live in a terraced house. Perhaps the best of both worlds would be to live in a semi-detached which means that only one side of the house is attached to another. Until the 1970s many homes either had one or no car so people lived close enough to the town center so that they could walk to the shops, the station and to work. This is why there is limited parking and the roads are narrow. My husband does like to remind me that a lot of these houses were built before cars existed. It wasn't until around the 1970's women even started to drive cars. The older houses are more solidly built. The houses from the 1970's to today aren't as they were trying to cope with a large population that needed homes.

Open planned homes are not common but many people have gotten accustomed to this and really like the homes this way. There is a fire safety code that states that there must be a door between each room. Also to save money, its best to close the doors to rooms you do not want to heat in the winter.

Americans often find themselves locked out of their house because many doors are self-locking. Make sure you take your key with you or flip the latch to prevent yourself from being locked out! You can get keys cut from places in towns from companies like Timpsons.

Carpets, like many things in England, are expensive. The kind of carpet that they have here is different as well. It is generally the short length style. If you have a child with allergies, it is best to find a home without carpets.

Some houses do have garages but the British often use them more for storage rather than parking their car in it. Some are very small so it is unlikely that an American sized car will fit in it. They are not usually attached to the house. Many Americans put their freezers in the garage. Dryers are also often placed inside the garage.

I do not suggest buying a house while you are here. For starters, your VA loan does not work overseas. The banks generally require a 25% deposit for a home loan and due to the recession it is harder for everyone to get a loan. The banks also have other requirements such as having 2.5 years left on your tour, not being able to buy the home with the intention to let and other restrictions. I would also think of your long term goals. I had a friend who bought a house here (they were mil to mil) before the recession and when they PSC'd had a hard time finding a tenant. It is also a long process, having just bought a house which took 9 months from the time we had our offer accepted to when we moved in, it is not worth your time. If you were here for 4 years, the first year you would spend buying your house and the last year selling it. Also the base has been enforcing the housing policy more often and even if you do get American tenants, it is easy to get out of the lease with the military clause so although you have someone in the house for a year, that is not guaranteed. Instead I suggest buying a home in the United States upon your return.

Kitchens

Kitchens and laundry facilities in British homes can be a shock to Americans. There are no garbage disposals, washer machines are usually in the kitchen and compared to American kitchens, they are small. Most English homes have a washer machine in the kitchen (some houses do not have space for a dryer). They, like other appliances, are often smaller than seen in America. It wasn't until after the 1970's that washer machines became common in the home and dryers in the last 15-20 years. A lot of the English and Europeans in general wash their clothes when dirty and not just when worn, kind of like your uniform. You change your t-shirt and undergarments every day but wear the uniform for the week. They will generally line dry in the nice weather and use a clothes horse in the winter. Also you can hang your clothes in the airing cupboard (where the boiler is) and it will dry your clothes quickly. Remember that energy is expensive compared to the U.S. so these are ways that you can cut back on your expenses. You might find that you have to do laundry more frequently than you normally would. It is not uncommon that your washer machine also be your dryer so it will take longer to do laundry. You can get larger washers and dryers from base or make a weekly trip to the Laundromat on-base. The refrigerator wasn't common until the 1970's because women would go shopping at their small local grocer every day or every other day. That is why you will see a lot of Co-operatives or other corner shops around. They use to store meat in a larder, a small cabinet that keeps cool, mine is under the stairs. Generally refrigerators are half the size of American ones but you can get bigger ones from FMO if you have space. I suggest using the smaller ones to minimize waste which can save you money.

Bedrooms

The bedroom sizes are not generally as big as U.S. ones and rooms are generally long and narrow. Some rooms would not be considered bedrooms at all in the U.S. They are also smaller as most people just sleep in these rooms and spend time in their living/sitting rooms, which is why these rooms are usually bigger. Most British houses do not have closets or other cabinets for storage; instead, they often have wardrobes where they store stuff. You will want to get loan wardrobes from the FMO office at Housing Office at RAF Lakenheath. Some Americans tend to use one of the smaller bedrooms as a closet instead. You may also see built-in wardrobes which are wall units of shelving, drawers and cabinets. A lot of people recommend you take only half of your stuff and get rid of the rest! Most people find that all of their furniture will fit in their house. One tip is if you have a bed that is Queen or bigger, it’s best to have a box spring mattress that is split to aid getting the bed up to the room that you want in. In the UK, dropside cribs are not illegal.[i] So you may see these here and at hotels when you are traveling. The bedsizes are different so this is useful to know when buying sheets off-base. Please see this table here for the comparison.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are a bit different than in the US. It is not as common anymore but do not be shocked to see an outdoor loo. Some bathrooms are baths that have showers that were added at a later date; it appears to be in the 1980’s, which is in line when England caught up with the U.S. and other appliances that were common in the USA became common here such as an electric shower. This involves pulling a string like a bathroom switch otherwise you will not have hot water! This is nice when your boiler is not working because it heats its own water. You might also find your bathroom might be split into two rooms, one where the toilet is in one and another is where the bath and sink are. Some bathrooms might even have carpet. There are no outlets for curling irons in the bathrooms but there are ones for shavers, this is because the voltage is twice the strength of the U.S. and it is dangerous to have electrical items that might get wet. That is also why the light switch is either outside, or a string to pull, because with wet hands you could get a shock. You might also have a half bathroom on the ground floor.

There are usually no mixer taps (hot and cold in one) in bathrooms. This is because the cold water is connected directly to the water supply whereas the hot water is in a cold water tank that is heated when needed so could not always be ensured it was good to drink out of. British children were always told to drink out of the cold tap or run the hot for a bit before using. Find out the whole story here.

Storage

It has been said that there is not as much storage in U.K. homes as one would like. There are no basements and cellars. I found myself having to part with quite a bit when I was moving from home to home here. There is usually storage available in the loft for items like your Christmas decorations and other things. As stated earlier, there is not a lot of closet space available either. That being said, I suggest that you take a good look through your items and only bring what you will need here. The bases do not pay for storage that you require and if it has been in your loft already and you never used it, it is best to part with it before you get over here. Also you can use this time to get some charitable tax exemption for next year’s taxes. When deciding to put things in storage, do not store fabric items in sheds as they will get moldy.

Utilities

Gardens

Homes tend not to have porches as you know them in the U.S., but a lot of houses have conservatories which are made up of windows in the back of the house. They catch the sun when it’s out and are a nice place to sit when it’s raining outside. The British would never sit out in the front of their house. The front garden is for show and the back garden is to enjoy. In rental properties they generally have low maintenance gardens which are easy to maintain or you can hire a gardener to do it for you. Otherwise, landlords are not overly keen for you to grow vegetables in their gardens. An alternative you have is to grow in pot and grow bags. These allow you to grow vegetables but not disrupt the garden of your rental home. I will address the issue of pets here.

Council Tax

Council tax is used to run the council and provide services like rubbish collection, police, fire, recycling, libraries and much more. This is similar to the property tax that you would pay in the States. It is based on the value of your house and paid eleven months of the year. U.S. service members and their dependents are exempt from paying council tax. You are required to fill in a form to notify your council that you have taken over a property in their area. You will be required to provide a copy of your orders for this. If you share a home with a person who is a local, you can only get a discount on your council tax. You can get this form either through your estate agent or through your local council.

I would like to note that Americans being exempt from paying this is a very sore subject with the locals. This is because the councils are having to cut back services due to a lack of money. The homes that USAF personnel can afford are at the higher tax bands and Forest Heath District Council is one of the worst performing councils and they have stated that it is the lack of funds that they receive due to the high concentration of Americans in their area. It also upsets them that the Americans are not paying council tax but using all the services, such as school, recycling and rubbish collection and not contributing to it.

T.V. License

The TV license is a tax for your television. In general, there are fewer commercials on British television. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is a public service and has no commercials so this makes up the differences in the revenue that would have been made by commercials and makes it more neutral. The TV Tax is renewed annually. If you only use your TV, computer, smartphone for watching DVDs, videos, or video games, and do not receive live television, you do not need a TV license. It costs £142.50 for color TV and £48.00 for black and white TV. There is a hefty fine of £1,000, if you do not have this license and require it, so it is better to get one and avoid the trouble. They have white vans that go around picking up frequencies to check out homes without the TV licenses. Your COLA now includes the cost of your TV License. Many newer TVs are able to cope with the difference in the video formats that the U.S. and U.K. TVs have. The difference is the video format that they require. The PAL (UK) has 25 frames per second whereas the NTSC (US) is 30 frames per second. Also the sizes of the frames are different.[i]